Fence-wire stretcher



Patented Deo. 23, 1884.

lUNiliED drains ldarrrvr @rrrea FRANK SLATER, OF GUTHRIE CENTRE, IOVVAQ FENCE WIRE STRETCHER.

ELECIE'ICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,577, dated December 23, 188 1.

Application filed March 9, 1884. No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK Smyrna, of Guthrie Centre, Guthrie county, in the State of Iowa, have invented a FenceVVir-e Stretcher, of which the following is a specification.

My object is to facilitate the stretching of fence-wires, as required, to prevent them from sagging between posts, and also to facilitatc splicing broken wires between posts as required in repairing wire fences.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of a straight bar having a hook at oneend, sharp 'point at its opposite end, and an adjustable eccentric at each end, a sliding loop having a hand-lever hinged thereto, a combined sliding block, and loop carrying an adjustable eccentric, and a chain, as hereinafter fully set forth, in such a man ner that the straight bar having ahook at one end can be readily fastened to a fixed post by means of the chain to draw a wire toward the post with the hand-lever, or the pointed end may simply be placed against a fixed post, and the hand-lever may be operated to draw a wire toward the post without fastening the 1:211.

Figure 1 of my accompanying drawings is a perspective view showing my device fast cued to a post by means of the chain attached to thehook on its end. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the same device with its pointed end placed against a post, and held there by the operator as required in stretching a wire toward the post.

Together these figures clearly illustrate the construction, application, and practical oporation of mycomplete invention.

A is a straight bar, that may be made of wood or iron, and vary in size, as desired. It has a hook, B, formed or fixed on one end, and a metal point, 0, formed or llXGCl on its opposite end.

Nos. 1 and 2 are adjustable eccentrics attached to the opposite ends and opposite sides of the bar A by means of bearers (I, as shown in. Fig. 1, or in any suitable way.

a is a metal loop that slides upon the bar A.

f is a lever of the second order, hinged to the loop 0.

g is a sliding loop and block upon the same bar, and flexibly connected with the lever by means of a bar, 71 in such a manner that when the free end of the levcrfis pulled away from the loop and block g it will clamp the loop 6 fast to the bar and draw the loop and. block 1 toward the clamping-loop. The block 5 has a shoulder, i, at its top, and an eccentric, No. 3, pivoted thereto in such a manner that a wire can be readily clamped fast to the sliding block and drawn therewith by means of the hand-leverf.

In place of forming the loop integral with the block y, it may be formed separately and hinged to the block.

J is a chain attached to the hook B and the end of the bar A in such a manner that it can be readily passed around a post to fasten my complete device to posts successively, as required in stretching fence-wires along a line ot posts before fastening them thereto by means of fencestaples, for the purpose of producinga wire fence.

To stretch a wire with my device when it is fastened to a post by means of the chain J, I simply place the wire under the eccentric No. 3 and upon the shoulder of the sliding block holdthe bar A in a horizontal position, and pull or press the free end of the hand-lever toward the post, to draw the wire in the same direction, and to retain it stretched until it is fastened to the line of posts along which it is extended and stretched. To take a second hold, to stretch it harder without relaxing its tension, I bend the stretched wire under the eccentric No. 2, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to be thereby held stationary,while I detach the wire from the eccentric No. 3, re verse the position of the lever f, and thereby slide the eccentric No. 3 and its bearing 1 toward the eccentric No. 2, and then take a sec ond hold on the wire with the eccentric No. 3. By then freeing the wire from the eccentric No. 2, and pressing the free end of the lever f toward the post to which my device is chained, I increase the tension of the wire.

To operate my device without chaining it fast to a post, I simply hold the pointed end of the bar A against a post, as shown in Fig. 2, and then operate the hand-lever and eccentrics in the same manner as above described, to stretch and hold awire along a line of posts, while an assistant fastens it to the posts by means of fence-staples in a common way.

To splice a broken wire between two posts,

I fasten one end to the bar A by means of the the bar A, having a hook at one end and a eccentric No. 1, and then fasten the other end to the eccentric No. 3, and draw it toward the other end by means of the hand-lever.

5 It is obvious that the operator can stand aside of the Wire that is to be stretched, and that he can readily place the complete stretcher in the various positions described to operate it equally Well in the different positions,

10 for the purposes specified.

I claim as my invention- The improved wire-stretcher, composed of sharp point at the other, and eccentrics Nos. 1 and 2 at its opposite ends and opposite sides, 15 a sliding loop, 6, hinged lever f, a sliding loop, and block g, carrying an eccentric No; 3, and flexibly connected with the lever f, and a chain, J, in the manner set forth, to operate as and for the purposes stated.

FRANK SLATER.

\Vitnesses:

CARL SoHULTz, E. XV. WEEKs. 

